'Advocating' genocide in private should be a crime, says parliamentary committee

Advocating genocide in private as well as public would become a crime punishable by a jail term of up to seven years if the Turnbull government adopts a call from a high-powered parliamentary committee.

The recommendation was made in a report released on Monday by a cross-party group of MPs who have been scrutinising the government's latest counter-terrorism bill.

The committee has largely backed the government's latest proposals, including reducing from 16 to 14 the age at which bail-like conditions such as curfews and tracking devices can be imposed on suspected terrorists.

But it recommended 20 changes, largely additional safeguards, including the use of security-cleared lawyers or "special advocates" who represent terrorism suspects in control order hearings where certain evidence is withheld from the suspect on national security grounds.

On the new crime of "advocating genocide", the committee has urged that Attorney-General George Brandis remove the word "publicly" from the bill, meaning it would also apply to private situations.

Senator Brandis welcomed the report and said the government would consider its response.

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On previous rounds of counter-terrorism reforms, the Coalition government has overwhelmingly adopted changes recommended by the committee, especially since they effectively seal Labor's support as well.

The committee is chaired by Victorian Liberal Dan Tehan, whose high standing within the government was signalled this week with his appointment as Defence Materiel Minister. It also bears the significant imprimatur of shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and senior Labor frontbenchers Penny Wong and Stephen Conroy.

The change to make genocide advocacy in private a crime would make Australia's law considerably broader than the international Genocide Convention, which demands punishment for "direct and public incitement to commit genocide".

But the committee argues that the proposed Australian law already goes much further than the Genocide Convention in that it prohibits advocacy and not just the more specific "incitement".

The committee has recommended the bill be tightened however by requiring that the person advocating genocide be "reckless" as to the consequences of their words, meaning they are aware that somebody listening might actually try to commit genocide.

Under the Coalition's latest round of national security reforms, suspects facing control orders - which can include tracking devices, curfews and curbs on phone and internet use - would be denied access to evidence against them if the court believes it is highly sensitive on national security grounds.

The committee called for courts to appoint "special advocates" who can act on the suspect's behalf in such situations.

On reducing the control order minimum age to 14, the committee called for courts to make the young person's best interests a "primary consideration" and the safety of the public a "paramount consideration".

Young people would have to be guaranteed the right to legal representation in a control order hearing. This would replace the proposal to assign a court-appointed "advocate" to the child in the model of Family Court advocates in custody cases.

This could effectively mean for instance that children have to be provided lawyers through legal aid if they can't pay for one themselves.